French Grand Prix - Free Practice Round-Up
SOLID BASTILLE
Panasonic Toyota Racing today began its preparations for
the French Grand Prix on a hot Bastille Day at Magny-Cours.
As the nation of France took to the roads to get away for
the national holiday, Toyota's race drivers Jarno Trulli and
Ralf Schumacher took to the track to get back to work. The
two practice sessions around the Circuit de Nevers went well
and both drivers completed their programmes of tyre comparison
and set-up. Jarno has changed his helmet design for this race
in honour of Italy's victory in last week's World Cup Final.
The whole team will now push hard to give both drivers more
to celebrate on Sunday.
Ralf Schumacher (Car 7, Chassis TF106/09B)
First Session Classification: 4th, 6 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m18.752s (+1.958s)
Second Session Classification: 9th, 21 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m18.274s (+1.372s)
"Today went well for us and the two sessions were pretty
painless. We made it through everything that we had planned
to test without problems and the car felt very strong. Apart
from the higher temperatures, the track does not change as
much here as at some circuits we go to so we look to be in
good shape for the next two days. I like the Magny-Cours track
and this is usually quite a nice place to race. The paddock
has a different layout and there is a different atmosphere
to many of the other tracks. We have gone well so far and
the weekend seems very promising."
Jarno Trulli (Car 8, Chassis TF106/08B)
First Session Classification: 12th, 7 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m19.806s (+3.012s)
Second Session Classification: 11th, 23 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m18.721s (+1.819s)
"Our pace looks pretty good so it was a successful day
for me. The car seems well balanced so I hope we can carry
on working as well as we have so far. I found a car in the
middle of the track on my quickest lap so my best time was
set on old tyres. The team is doing a good job and at the
last test at Jerez we worked on tyres and set-up for this
race. It was very hot and those are the conditions we expect
to encounter here this weekend so we should hope for another
good race. After the points I have taken in the last two races
it would be nice to build on that progress on Sunday."
Dieter Gass - Chief Engineer Race and Test
"We had a very positive day today and we made it through
our entire programme without any issues. We got our long runs
done and collected lots of data so we are in a position to
make a confident choice about the tyres. We also went through
all the set-up options that we had planned and both drivers
were happy with the balance so we are satisfied with what
we have achieved. Ralf has an update on his engine here while
Jarno is still using his engine from Indianapolis because
he is on the second race of his cycle. We also have updates
to the aerodynamics and the suspension. Our performance looks
promising so we will use that as a baseline for the rest of
the weekend."
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